Early morning wake up

Early this morning I got a rather stressful wake up and had to call an ambulance for Robert.

Starting this out - Robert is 100% okay. 

He woke me up scratching his head about 3 am. Not waking me up by saying "hey Becca, my head itches." No, he was scratching in his sleep, scratching and scratching and scratching.  I asked him if he was okay, but wasn't immediately concerned that he didn't respond. He is a deep sleeper and it is hard to get him to wake up enough to communicate with me.  And then he stopped scratching.

So I put my head back down and closed my eyes and he started again. I made more of an effort to wake him, but still he wouldn't wake and wouldn't stop scratching.  After 10 minutes, turning on the lamp and shaking him - his eyes opened. But he wouldn't stop scratching. And he wasn't talking to me. I was asking him if he was okay over and over and telling him I needed him to answer me, but nothing.

I went and got some water and made him sit up. (You know, in case his mouth was really dry and that's why he couldn't talk. That makes sense right? Don't judge me, it was 3 am.)  I was still asking him if he was okay and he looked sorta blank. He didn't answer me. And was still scratching.  Then he started pulling at his lip and opening and closing his hand while looking at it funny.

My first thought was that he was having a stroke and his face and hand was numb.  He did nod when I asked him if his lip was numb (yay, response...kinda) and he said "mmhuh" when I asked if he knew his name and my name. Then I asked him to say my name. Nothing.  No response.

I grabbed his socks and was going to put his socks and shoes on, load him and the kids up and drive him to the hospital.  Then I thought, what if it is a stroke and he gets worse.  It's an hour drive.  Not to mention that I will definitely freak the kids out. 

New plan: phone - 911.

It seemed like it took fffffffooooooooorrrrrrrreeeeeeeevvvvveeeeeeerrrrr for the ambulance to get here, but from the moment I finally got him awake at 3:10 to the time they were throwing questions at me it was 17 minutes, and at least half of that was the time spent before I called.  While waiting and still on the phone with the 911 operator, I walked to the front door to the bedroom like 20 times to unlock the door, turn on lights, and see if they were here yet.  I did think to lock the dog in the bathroom so he wouldn't go nuts barking at the strangers in the house, and he did go nuts.  Yay for brain cells that work.

And he woke up for them - like fully woke up.  He spoke, answered questions, and understood (sorta) what was going on - mainly that he woke up to a bunch of strangers in his bedroom poking at him and asking him questions, but he didn't know why.   I told them which hospital to go to and followed them out.  He was having trouble walking, but did walk, and there were two very large EMT/firefighter guys on either side helping him walk.  It was very reassuring when the EMT guy turned to me and said they weren't going full siren to the hospital so I shouldn't drive that way either.  I said okay and closed the door.

I let Yoda out of the bathroom so he could huff around the house and make sure the bad guys were going to eat us or something, then got me dressed, the kids up and dressed (well, they dressed themselves).  I had them pack some books and their DS so they would have something to do and called Robert's mom.  Then grabbed my Kindle (for my something to do), made sure I had my wallet, grabbed Robert's phone and wallet in case he wanted them and socks for his feet because he left barefoot.  I should have grabbed shoes too, but it was 3:30 in the morning, I was freaking out but trying not to show it so the kids would stay calm, so I didn't think of it.  For the most part I was able to keep me, Barbara, and the kids calm all morning.  Robert's mom tends to freak out a little easily.  Especially when it comes to Robert or the kids.  It's not a bad thing Barb, love you! And Carus was/is rather concerned, but we reassured her all was okay I just wanted a doctor to help daddy because I couldn't and now we are reassuring her that he is definitely completely okay. Adam has handled it all very maturely. Man, he is growing up so flipping fast.

The kids and I drove to the hospital in the pouring rain and I stayed under the speed limit the whole time. Be proud of me. I wanted to speed, so badly. So really be proud of me.  I wanted to be there now, not so many minutes from now. But it was too wet (stupid rain, stupid Oregon) and I was hydroplaning a smidge as it was, so cruise control and restraint were my friends. Barbara was just a few minutes behind me and we showed up at the hospital just a few minutes after Robert had arrived.  And he talked to me (yay).

They had given him some Benedryl and he immediately improved - looks like it was an allergic reaction.

After several hours of waiting around, and sending gramma and kids off after food and coffee (thank you Barbara! both for watching the kids and the coffee, mostly for watching the kids) the doctor came in and was like Yeah, sometimes we have an allergic reaction to something.  Could have been something you came in contact with, or ate, or a spider bite, or just random.  Next time, take Benedryl and then come in if it gets worse.  Oh, and we'll prescribe you an EpiPen to have on hand just in case. 

I felt silly calling an ambulance for an allergic reaction where he wasn't having trouble breathing; and if I had thought of allergic reaction maybe I could have dosed him with some Benedryl and all would have been fine(maybe, not sure if we have some, will be checking after I finish writing).

But then again, maybe I did make the right decision.

Thank God for my job and the awesome health insurance we have because of it! It is really nice to not have to worry about how much an emergency room is going to cost - yeah, it will be expensive, but at least some of it will be covered. And some is better than none. Every time I use it I am thankful that we have health insurance and aren't like the many that don't or can't have it. It is a nice convenience.

I was able to drive us home okay, which is a feat in itself because Robert is not comfortable being in the passenger seat and I get so nervous when driving with him.  He was the one that taught me to drive - at first, until he freaked out on me for no reason and I put an end to his lessons. Now I revert to the just learning to drive person every time I get in the car to drive with him.  I guess it's lucky I did forget his shoes, if I had remembered he would have insisted on driving. 

We got home about 8:30 and came in and went to bed where we all slept off our early morning adventure (except Adam, cause he has trouble sleeping during the day). 

And that is how my Sunday turned into a completely unproductive day.

Well, I did write this post.

* * * * *
I did check.  We do have some Benedryl in the medicine cabinet. And now I know how Robert's allergic reactions look...

As to what he is allergic to. We have no idea for sure.  We are thinking that perhaps it was the scratches he got from the rose bushes he ripped out yesterday.  I'm not sure if his doctor will want to test to see what it was - or if Robert wants to be tested.

* * * * *
On weekends, at least one morning a weekend, I try to make breakfast. Something more than cereal, like bacon and eggs or biscuits and gravy or waffles or ...  This morning we had planned on having waffles with strawberries and whip cream.  That didn't work out well when we were just arriving back home about the time we would be making breakfast so it got ditched.

Then, later, I decided to ditch dinner plans instead and have breakfast for dinner.

16/365


* * * *
I think I'm going to start posting the weekly menu on Sunday or Saturday... or something.  I never get around to updating the menu page.

Weekly menu 1-16 to1-22

My menu originally had a FFY (fend for yourself night), but with the waffle dinner it has been removed and all dinners were moved down a day.

Sunday - Waffles
Monday - Roast chicken, red potatoes, green beans
Tuesday - Beef and broccoli
Wednesday - Chef salad
Thursday - Baked potato soup
Friday - Chicken noodle soup and grilled cheese sandwiches
Saturday - Beef enchiladas

I think...

I think I'm getting sick of winter.  Sooo much rain.

Sooo cloudy and dreary...

Le sigh.

Good thing our fake-out spring is just around the corner.

In mid to late February we will have an increase in temps and the sun will come out and it will stay that way for a month or so and then April comes and the rain returns for another three months.

I can't wait for the fake-out spring. I could use some sun.

15/365

Catching up on my 365s

Wilbur doesn't like Robert messing with his jacket.  (12/365)


Look at those blue eyes!  (13/365)



Ice crystals on the jalepeno poppers I froze leftover from Thanksgiving dinner.  Every now and then I pull a couple out and warm them up.  YUM! (14/365)

Been meaning to show ya...

Simba has taken to 'knocking' on the window when he wants in.  A few weeks ago I kicked him out after he poo'd in the house 3 feet from the cat box. 

He had only been outside for maybe 20 minutes when he starting knocking...

Sorry its sideways... I never remember not to record sideways.

Chicken Broccoli Alfredo

We finally (4 days late, thank you UPS) got our replacement part for the furnace.  Robert installed it and we had heat, actual heat, not the wimpy heat pump heat, by 4:30 this afternoon and we were roasting (at 62 degrees) by 5pm.

It is awesome.

However, the thought of how much our electric bill is now going to go up is not.  Eh, whatcha gonna do?

No picture today because I don't wanna upload it before I leave for camera club and won't have the time when I get back before it is bedtime. 

On to the food!
All my recipes usually make amounts to feed the 4 of us, the kids seconds (almost every meal, the turds can put away the food), and usually a serving of leftovers (my lunch the next day) (maybe more than one serving of leftovers).  Sometimes I get the 4 of us and the kids seconds. THIS recipe makes quite a bit so be warned.

Chicken Broccoli Alfredo

4 medium chicken breasts, cooked and diced
1 pound curly egg noodles (or other pasta of your choice)
2 cups frozen broccoli or 2 cups fresh steamed broccoli
1 can cream of chicken soup
2 cans milk (use the cream of chicken soup can)
2 cups of freshly grated cheese, your choice; parmesan, asiago, and mozerella*
Seasonings to taste:
oregano
garlic salt
season salt
pepper
red pepper flakes

Cook chicken breasts with seasonings until done (skillet on the stove, turning when cooked halfway; or baked in oven until done).  Dice up chicken.

Boil water in large pot.  Add pasta and cook until almost done. If using frozen broccoli, toss in and bring back to a boil, then drain.  If using fresh broccoli already steamed, just finish the pasta and then drain.  Rinse with HOT water.

In the same large pot (after dumping pasta-pasta/broccoli) add the soup and milk and heat up.  Add cheeses and continue to stir until melted.  Don't let it get too hot or it will scald the milk.  If using a hard cheese (parmesan or asiago) add them first because they take moer to melt. Continue stiring until it thickens up a little.  Then add the pasta, broccoli, and chicken to the sauce.  Stir and serve.  Goes great with garlic bread.

*We used about 1 cup of mozerella and 1/2 cup each of freshly grated parmesan (not the sprinkle from the can stuff) and asiago.  Other cheeses might be good too.  All mozerella would be good.  Just mozerella and parmesan... the choices are endless.

Baby, It's Cold Outside!

We got had snow! There was promise, there still is promise, but right now it is just rain and melted the dusting we got from those flakes you see there in that photo... or might see. It kinda just showed up as swishes/blurs.  It might start snowing again later tonight, or it might just freeze over.  Either way, I'm expecting a snow day tomorrow... YAY - kids will be home. HA!

Dinner tonight was chicken and broccoli alfredo which turned out so good that Robert requested we write it down so we can replicate the results again.  But first the BBQ pork fried rice recipe that my awesome Aunt Pam has requested.

It works with chicken, pork, BBQ, and shrimp (although I haven't done shrimp). I've found the BBQ pork in the deli meat section and in the sausage section.

Fried Rice

1 cups cooked meat, chopped
1/2 cup frozen peas and carrots, steamed and drained
4 cups cooked rice, cold
2 eggs, scrambled
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
4 green onions, sliced
3 tbsp veggie oil
1/8 to 1/4 cup soy sauce
pinch of curry, pepper (to taste)

Heat oil in wok (or large pot) until hot.  Saute the green onions and garlic for 30 seconds then add the rice.  Break up any clumps of rice and stir to coat with oil.  Add the seasonings and soy sauce. Add the vegetables, meat, and scrambled eggs.

There ya go.

Sick day

I was up at 2:30 am with Carus sick this morning and then every 30 minutes to an hour after that listening.  She didn't call for me so I thought she was okay, but the poor thing wanted me but didn't want to call for me :(

She stayed home of course and I was off work trying to comfort her, cleaning up messes, washing clothes and bedding, and washing and disinfecting all I could.  Especially my hands, which are now a bit raw...

There was a point where I was concerned about appendicitis because her lower right abdomen started hurting, but it went away after another round of sick and hasn't returned. I was poking her a lot just to make sure.

Now dinner is done, Carus was able to keep some food and liquid down too (and some meds for a fever YAY) and I'm beat and wanting bed.  I really hope the bug stops with her, but that is usually not the case...

Uh oh, Robert says I'm looking a little pale. Other than being tired I'm feeling okay. 

Now to the 365s.

Saturday's 365 was me trying to get pictures of the cats. Timmy likes to pose for me, but usually right next to the lens so its not much of a picture. But when I'm fast enough....

8_365


Like I was saying yesterday, I made some spaghetti sauce and canned it. 18 jars, good for spaghetti, lasagna, pizza, breadstick dipping sauce, chicken parmesan, etc.

9_365


When Carus is sick, she gets clingy. I tried to get her to stay in bed but she didn't want to so I made a bed for her on the couch...which got dumped for a pile of blankets on the floor. Eh, she finally took a nap longer than 5 minutes there. Whatever works.

10_365


Funny thing, when she saw me pull out the camera she popped up and put a cheesy grin on her face. Always posing for the camera. It didn't take much to convince her it was okay to just lay there - but she wouldn't stop smiling a little.